


Cross Roads

by MoxieArts



Series: Cross Roads [1]
Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: Aftermath of Torture, Angst and Feels, Character Death, Multi, Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-07-15
Updated: 2015-07-15
Packaged: 2018-04-09 12:06:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,317
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4348193
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MoxieArts/pseuds/MoxieArts
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Danny saves the Earth from Plasmius, but after the fact everyone finds out that there was a heavy price to pay. At the harsh news, how will his family react? And more importantly, what will Danny do now that he’s all alone?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Cross Roads

Danny’s terrified eyes flitted between the ghosts around him, fear spiking his heart rate up. Laughter echoed around him from the hundreds of ghosts who were all gathered around him, ready to attack him at the word. Skulker edged closer, and Danny’s heart skipped a beat.

“W-Wait! Let me explain!”

He naturally floated backwards and away from the danger, only to be pushed into Johnny by the Medusa looking ghost girls. He swirled away from the blonde ghost as he tried vainly to explain, “Our worlds are linked!” 

The ghost child leapt out of the reach of Johnny and Kitty before breathlessly continuing. “If mine goes, your’s goes, too! I have a plan-” Before he could continue, Skulker aimed his wrist at him and shot out a beam that sent Danny into the chest of another ghost. 

He felt dark claws dig into his scalp as he was picked up, causing him to grit his teeth and struggle. Danny barely had time to register what the crackling noise was before volts of electricity were wracking his body. The halfa let out a short scream of agony as the deadly electricity jarred him, before being dropped on the ground. The silverette clutched his stomach as it tossed violently, threatening to empty itself. Gritting his teeth, the weary eyed boy looked up at the ghosts around him angrily. “Look! I know you hate my world, and wouldn’t lift a finger to help it, but I thought you might care about saving your own!” 

He glared at the ghosts around him, core thrumming in his ears despite his brave words. As the group circled around him stepped closer, Danny felt his skin rise with goose bumps and he nearly sobbed with fear. 

A heavy boot landed to Danny’s side, sending him careening into someone’s legs. Before he could bring his eyes up to look at them, the heel of Kitty’s sharp shoes came down on Danny’s ribs with an audible crack, causing him to let out a shrill scream. Swift kicks met his stomach and back, and more sharp volts of electricity were pumped into Danny as he let out a blood curdling scream. Some of the morally stable ghosts backed off, but others, who were bent on getting revenge, just laughed. Ghosts he’d never even met before were circling closer, anxious to get in a hit or two. The entire crowd was bumping and fighting to get to Danny, and he tried to use the fighting as a distraction and crawl away, but a foot slammed down on his calf. 

Pain ripped through the halfa’s body and he let out another scream, jerking into a ball to protect his stomach from the kicks and jabs now aimed solely at him. Some ghost he’d never seen slammed a metal bat down on his side, and the audible crack had Danny letting out another agonized scream. Soon more weapons joined the party and the ghost-boy tried desperately to crawl away while whips joined the party on his back. Amber slammed her guitar down over his head and Danny fell to the ground again before being hefted up by a striped ghost with electric white hair. He was shoved into Kitty and Ember quickly and forced to look into the face of the striped woman. 

The Electric Core jabbed him with more painful volts of electricity in his stomach that had the ghost thrashing wildly in Ember’s and Kitty’s grasp. The electricity was taken away and Danny slumped down, tears pouring from his eyes as his core skittered painfully in his chest. He could smell the stench of Wulf, and he tried to remind the ghost that they were on friendly terms, but Wulf was beyond reasoning. As his muzzle came down to clamp onto the boys side, and he could feel his human heart flutter erratically in his chest as he screamed, “Please! Our world’s will fall apart if we don’t-”

His words were ignored and Wulf’s fangs sank deep into his side. He was lifted from the ground and thrown into another throng of ghosts, who instantly flocked around the injured boy to maim him further. However, A booming voice caused everyone to freeze. “He’s right!” 

Even Danny blinked in surprise as he looked at the ghost who’d stood up for him, His wide eyes staring at Skulker with disbelief. The ghost hunter looked around him at the others and gestured to the ghost world. “If the Earth is destroyed, so are we. Just this once, humans need us and we need them. Let’s save this good for nothing rock-so we can continue to thrive and kill the halfa another day!” Cheers rose up around him, and Danny felt his world drop out from under him. 

Relief and fear intermingled and he didn’t know whether to rejoice or run. Box ghost helped him get up with a cold hand and Skulker floated forward. “Let’s go and save the world, Half- ghost.” 

 

Danny cautiously accepted the hand extended to him, his core still thrumming loudly in his ears, and an ectoplasm/blood mixture staining his uniform. A strange silence fell over the group, and Danny swallowed in order to put on a brave face, though his jaw felt like it had been broken. “Let’s do this, everyone!” The ghosts around him burst into uproarious cheer, and Danny took off into the air with Skulker right next to him. 

They made for the nearest ghost portal, which dumped them a mere ten miles from where they needed to be. Once out of the Ghost Zone, Danny started falling behind, his core beating off-kilter. The halfa made a feebly landing to the icy ground in order to catch his breath, coughing up a glob of ectoplasm and blood onto the white expanse. Darkness swam around his vision and the young halfa placed a hand on the ground, heaving for air. Ghosts all around him stopped and stared, but he waved them on. 

After a minute of panting for breath that refused to come to his lungs, Danny felt something inside him physically click into place. He felt hollow and full of energy at the same time, and took off from the icy ground with gritted teeth, his major wounds finally stitching themselves shut. He had an idea of what just happened, but refused to think about it until after the world was saved. With a sudden burst of energy, Danny surged ahead of the horde and lead them to the tower. Everyone began attaching themselves to the tower, and Danny found Skulker in the masses in order to talk to him. 

An empty smile lit up his tan face as he found the ghost hunter and exclaimed, “I still can’t believe you guys agreed to help me! Looks like there is a heart under all that cyber!” 

Skulker narrowed his eyes at the teen and sneered; “Don’t get too sentimental. We’re not here to save you, we’re here to save us.” Danny smirked and looked up and down the tower, covered in ghosts.

“Let’s just get this party started!” He flew over to the tower and built up a layer of power around his fists, the buzzing spreading over the tower as soon as he touched it. All around him he could hear the other ghosts surging their energy into the tower. The tower began vibrating, and spectral energy built up before travelling to the other cables. 

He could feel his core shuddering at the effort of putting out this much energy, and shouted into his earpiece, “Tucker! How- Much- Longer?!” His entire body shuddered with effort, and the ghosts around him were visibly straining to give off as much energy as possible. There were a tense few seconds where Danny received no answer, and almost thought that it would never be ready. Suddenly though, the ear piece screeched into his ear, and Danny let himself go intangible. Ghosts all around him became invisible as well, until all of them were unseen. The tower slowly disappeared, before spreading to the cables. The buzzing in his ears and pained noises from the ghosts around him sent a sharp spike of worry through the young ghost, and he barely managed to squint through his eyes to get a look below. 

He could almost see straight through the Earth, and the roar below him came closer and closer. He squeezed his eyes shut with pain and groaned into his ear piece. “Where’s the asteroid?!” Five tense seconds passed before the green rock plummeted right through them, making his skin crawl and all the ghosts visibly shudder. It took three seconds to pass and suddenly everyone let go and dropped to the ground, shivering and struggling to remain upright. Ghosts all around him were straining to keep their wits about them, as they heaved and clutched their sides in order to calm down their strained cores. Some of the weaker ghosts seemed to crumble away, and Danny prayed they were just returning to the Ghost Zone. Danny himself floated to the ground weakly, a dull roar filling his ears from the cheering crowd. 

His dead eyes found his friends mere seconds before they tackled him, easily causing the exhausted ghost-boy to fall to the ground. He let out a pained grunt and raised himself on his elbows to look at them, everyone immediately giving him praise. 

“Awesome!” 

“Nice job little brother- or should I say Hero?” 

A warm hand on his shoulder told him that the latter praise was his sister and he blinked at her blurry outline. Heavy footfalls approached him, and Danny shook his head before looking up at the silver blur of a certain cyber ghost. Danny got up weakly and looked at the ghost hunter, his vision swimming as he fought to focus on the taller ghost. “Look, I don’t know what to say, other than thanks, Skulker. To all of you.” Danny looked around at the horde of other ghosts surrounding Skulker that hadn’t quite yet returned to the Ghost Zone. 

A fist grabbed the front of his suit and yanked him close to Skulker’s glaring face. “Don’t get too mushy on us Ghost-Child. Remember, I’ll never stop hunting you, and now that you’ve saved your world? You’re a much more valuable prize.” Danny’s core stuttered, but the tall ghost dropped him and smiled. Danny returned the smile, stepping backwards and out of arm’s reach. Skulker and the last horde took off into the air and towards the ghost portal, Dani stopping for a moment to wave goodbye to her older brother. He waved back with a warm smile and watched as she disappeared back into the Ghost Zone. Danny felt a hand on his shoulder and looked over to see Sam’s worried expression. He followed her finger to see his parents, running closer to them.

The ghost swallowed hard and stepped forward to meet his parents. He braced himself for yelling, and was caught off-guard by his mother’s tight embrace. It took him a few seconds, but soon he hugged her back. He opened his eyes to look up at his dad, but Jack Fenton wasn’t looking at him. His gaze fell only on Maddie and he seemed confused. “Uh, Maddie? Where’s Danny?” 

Danny felt a chord strike in his core as his mother pulled back from him to look at her husband with disbelief. “Why, he’s right here, Jack!” She gestured to the silverette and he looked down at the snowy ground, curling in on himself with shame. No no no, this isn’t how it's supposed to happen- God, why couldn’t he just be wearing the stupid watch I bought him or something?!

Sam, Tucker, and his Mother all seemed confused, but Jazz gasped and grabbed his shoulder. “Danny? Why- Why can’t Dad see you?” Her shaking voice caused Danny to nearly break right then and there, but he had to stay strong. 

His tear filled eyes refused to leave the ground as he forced himself to speak through the hot tears blurring his vision. “Don’t you know, Jazz?” The ghost boy laughed hoarsely before continuing, “You have to be holding onto something that a ghost owned to see it, unless it’s evil.” Tears have escaped his eyes and fell steadily down his face, freezing on contact. There are three gasps around him, and a sudden sob from his mother. She fell to the ground at his feet and openly sobbed. Sam jerked Danny closer so they were facing each other and tried to save the situation. 

“Yeah, but you’re not a ghost, Danny! You’re a halfa, you’re not a ghost, you’re not!” Danny looks into her lavender eyes to see crystalline tears building up, threatening to cover her rosy cheeks. Her trembling words were incomprehensible by the time Danny kissed her, a gloved hand on her cheek. When he pulled back, the tears were spilling and she was shaking her head. 

“N-no! You can’t do this y-you jerk! It’s not fair!” Sam suddenly buried her face in his shoulder and sobs freely. Danny is left patting her back and looking at Tucker and Jazz, who are curled together and crying just as openly. Maddie fights through her tears a few feet away to tell Jack that Danny Fenton, their baby, is dead. 

Danny rubbed soothing circles into Sam’s back and watched as his father's face flitted from worry to confusion to anger to horror and then finally, a look Danny thought he would never see on the old man’s face… Defeat. He watched with wide eyes as Jack Fenton fell to his knees on the icy ground, bringing his wife into his arms, and letting out a sob of despair. Danny’s core stuttered, and fresh tears dripped from his eyes. “Dad. Oh God, I’m so fucking sorry Dad.”

Sam still clung to him, but Danny brushed her hair aside and placed a kiss on her head. “Hey, Sam, it’s ok, I’ll be o-” The goth snapped and shoved back from him, glaring heatedly. 

“It’s not -- It’s not okay, Danny! You’re dead!“ 

After the words exited her mouth, Sam clamped both hands over her face and horror filled her eyes. Tucker was the one to catch her when she fell to her knees and began sobbing again, leaving Danny staring at her with an aching core. A trembling hand touched his shoulder and the ghost jumped before turning to his sister’s red face. “You-” she nearly choked on her words before wiping away the tears cascading down her face. “You did the right thing, baby bro.” 

At the last two words, Danny felt a part of him curl up and die. He yanked his sister close and cried into her shoulder, letting out a steady flow of whispered words into her shoulder. “I don’t want to die, Oh God Jazz, I never wanted to die.” 

Jasmine held him close and let him cry as she looked over his shoulder at their mother and father, who were curled together, shivering. The icy cold had frozen their tears and made their lips blue, and Jazz glanced to see the same has happened with everyone except for Danny. She swallowed hard and forced her brother to let go of her before going over to her parents. “We need to go home.” She managed, before turning away from them as fresh tears pricked in her eyes. Danny composed himself and floated over to Tucker. His best friend stared into his eyes before the ghost pulled him into a tight hug. 

The darker skinned teen gripped Danny’s shoulders as he hugged him, crying into the ghosts shoulder. Danny could feel him shuddering, either fighting off the cold or sadness. Most likely both. The messy haired ghost held Tucker close to him and buried his cold fingers into that fluffy parka of his. He could just barely hear Tucker’s whispered words into his shoulder, muttering almost to himself about how this can’t be real. About how they must have failed and now they're all dead and this is some sick form of purgatory. Danny only shook his head and held Tucker closer to him, refusing to verbally tell him he’s wrong. 

Danny heard a pained sob and his eyes shot open to see his mother being escorted to the vehicle by his father and sister. Sam was already inside the all-terrain beast of a vehicle, blankets over her shoulders and hot-chocolate in her hands. Danny swallowed hard and gently pushed Tucker away from his body. “Tuck-” his voice cracked with emotion, and the ghost cleared his throat before trying again. “Tucker. You have to get somewhere warm. Let’s get you into the Fenton truck, okay?” Danny let his legs shift into a spectral tail and pulled Tucker towards the large vehicle. Jazz met him halfway with an unreadable expression and a thermal blanket. Together they managed to get Tucker into the back of the vehicle, where Sam and his mother were already huddled together. 

Tucker joined them without a sound, while Jazz blocked their mother’s view of Danny before she can break down again. The ginger shot Danny a look, and the ghost slipped out of the vehicle without a word. Glowing green eyes flickered to the driver's seat, where his father sat stoically. Danny’s core ached at the defeated look in his dad’s eyes, and he floated back from the window wordlessly. Before they can all get started, he let his body become intangible and streaked off to find a ghost portal. The cheering and shouts of rejoice below him from all the delighted humans made Danny’s stomach curl painfully. He was quick to veer away from the throng of humans that had gathered in the cold wasteland. 

Danny didn’t make it into the Ghost Zone for a few hours, and by the time he did, a party was underway. Not only had the crazy half-ghost been banished to space, but the younger one had finally become an actual ghost! Everyone was ecstatic with this news, and it made Danny sick. Ghosts he’d never met before were giving him congratulatory pats on the back, and praising him for finally dying. Danny didn’t bother fighting their words, and instead continued to fly with his head ducked down. The flight to Amityville was short inside the Ghost Zone. He could go through his usual portal that lead into his parents house, as it was closed. 

It took him a while, but Danny finally managed to find a portal that opened up in downtown Amityville, near the park. He was quick to exit the green hued Ghost Zone for the more welcome tones of dusk in his home town. At the breath of fresh air to his dead lungs, Danny felt a punch of nostalgia to his stomach. His eyes skittered over to his home, and the ghost caught his breath.

He used to hate the obnoxious signs and lights that pointed out his home like a beacon, but now he’s almost grateful for it. Floating over to the house is easy with such a large target and allowed Danny to shut down and stop thinking for a minute or two, at least. When he arrived at the right angle to make it into his bedroom, the ghost froze completely. He’d been planning on shifting back to his human form and floating through the barrier like he usually did, but his brain brought those thoughts to a crashing halt. Danny floated down to the sidewalk, his spectral trail stilling as his wide eyes stare at the barrier blocking him from home. A bubble of anger and fear rose up in his throat like bile, and the ghost screeched out before bringing his gloved fists down on the barrier.

Sharp pain exploded on the sides of his fists, but Danny continued to thrash against the barrier, green tinted tears blurring his vision. “It’s not fair!” Danny’s core sped up as he slammed his fists into the barrier. He could feel the gloves shredding around his knuckles as he blindly hit the wall of energy. His words are breathless and he floats back from the energy field with a hurt expression. “ I just want to go home!” His hand balls up with spectral energy and he blasts against the barrier with an agonized scream. Danny’s shoulders heave as he stares at the ground below, his tears dripping freely. The ghost boy let himself flutter to the ground before crumpling down onto the cold side-walk in front of his house.. 

His sides were still heaving when someone walking by stopped and crouched next to him. Danny tensed up and wipes his tears from his face before looking through his ragged hair at the person on his side. Through his silver hair he recognized Mr. Lancer, who was frowning and holding out a hand to him. Danny shook his head to clear it and accepted the offer, standing up with the teacher awkwardly. Lancer pulls a handkerchief out of his coat and offers it to the young hero, and Danny was quick to wipe his tear covered face. “Thanks Mr. Lancer…” 

The elder stopped him before he can continue by gesturing down the road. “My house has reasonable heat, and you can wait there until your folks get home, Daniel. It’s highly frowned upon for a student to be in a teacher's house, but I think we can make an exception, just this once.” 

Danny blinked and looked up at the teacher with furrowed brows, rubbing his hands together. “I- what? How do you- How can you even see me? I’m d- … I’m not like I was.” He finally settled on a question and looked Lancer in the eye. The teacher sighed heavily and rolled up his coat sleeve to show a chain with many trinkets on it. Danny instantly recognized it as the gift he and his sister pulled together for their favourite teachers. They had spent hours making trinkets that would mean something to their respective teachers. He had no clue that Lancer actually wore it. 

Danny’s electric eyes flicked back to Lancer’s dark brown and he bit his lower lip. “I can answer your other questions somewhere warmer, Mr. ..Fenton.” He seemed to hesitate at what to call Danny, but decided to use his last name. 

The silverette looked around the bare street and heaved a sigh into the freezing air. The cold consumed his entire being, and maybe being in a warm house would help cure that. If anything, he could just accept the car ride so he and Lancer could talk- talking to a human would be a nice change after all the uproarious ghosts he’s recently encountered. Danny nodded with his arms crossed over his chest for mock warmth, and followed Lancer down the street silently. Thankfully, his teacher allowed him his quiet, as the teen opted to stare at the handkerchief he’d been given, and decide the best way to answer any questions thrown at him. 

By the time they’d made it down the block to Lancer’s car, Danny had figured out a couple questions he wanted to ask. Lancer opened the car door for him, and it occurred to Danny that he may not be able to grasp objects on the human world quite yet. Panic rose up inside of him, but he forced it down with a tense smile as he got into the car. It was weird being in a teacher’s car, but so many things had happened today that Danny didn’t care. The ghost found himself staring out the window and drawing frost figures as scratchy music played on Lancer’s cassette. It was this real pretty tune, with pianos and soft female singing that reminded him of swing, which was still fairly new. Danny found that with some effort he could grasp the lock of Lancer’s old Ford Coupe and toggle it. He was surprised at this, considering not only his state, but how old the car was. It was a model that had been out for nine years already, yet it seemed in near pristine condition.

Danny kept his thoughts to himself and stared at the scenes passing him by out the fogged up window, brain buzzing with a headache. The arrived at Lancer’s driveway after a few minutes more, and Danny was quick to fumble out of the car, practically falling through the door. He brushed himself off as if nothing happened and followed Lancer to the door. His teacher seemed agitated and finally sighed, eyes flickering around. “Daniel, I don’t know if you know this, but you’re invisible to me at the moment.” Panic flooded his veins before Danny realized that during his bored state, he had become intangible. Effortlessly, he switched back into a solid form and Lancer visibly relaxed. “Ah, there you are. Come on in, the heaters on blast.” Danny’s legs shift into a spectral tail and he floats into the teacher’s house, chewing his bottom lip.

His visit soon turns into a calm conversation about what happened, accompanied with many tears and a cup of scalding hot cocoa that sent warmth radiating through Danny for a good few minutes. Early morning light was spilling into the day room when they finally called it a night. Lancer set Danny up with all the spare blankets after hearing him complain about the constant chill in his body, before bidding the ghost sweet dreams and leaving the room. As he’s curling up on the couch with his pile of quilts, Danny blankly wondered if ghosts even can sleep. He knew that ghosts didn't need sleep, but after the past twenty-four hours… It would be nice to just curl up and take a nap. Danny further burrowed into the pile and let his eyes slip shut finally, the hum of a heater lulling him into a shallow sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> Oh yeah. Another heart breaking fic for you, kids. Please bear with me- the first few chapters are going to be confusing. Once we get into the swing of things? Well, I hope you have some tissues. You’re going to need them.


End file.
